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With the perpetual uptake in use of social media, companies are quickly realizing that utilizing social media’s channels for improved customer service processes is a necessary step. For any company, especially those with call centers, using social media to reach a customer base is increasingly less of an option, and more of a requirement.

Learning how best to take advantage of all that social media has to offer the call center can be a tricky process. Here to help is Fonolo (News - Alert), a cloud-based visual dialing solution provider, with a white paper titled, “Making Social Media Work for Your Call Center.”

“Social media’s rise to dominance in the last few years has been so rapid and unprecedented that companies and consumers are still trying to assess how to use it and how it affects their world…Meanwhile, companies are coming to terms with the rapid and voluminous feedback they get from customers and the sometimes dangerous mob mentality that can appear online,” Fonolo stated as an intro to the lessons following about how to begin to think about incorporating social media into your contact center.

One of the most important points detailed the shortened time between customer reactions and the impact on the organization because of the immediacy of social media. Fonolo noted that social networks such as Twitter and Facebook (News - Alert) are portals for customer sentiments, and can make or break a brand: “People can act on their rage at the spur of the moment. Some people have reported that the act of publically raging is cathartic. Whatever the psychology behind “tweet rage”, its impact on customer service for companies is clearly negative.”

Instead of seeing the popularity of social media as a threat to business, Fonolo suggests harnessing the power of this networking monster for the betterment of your client base and overall revenue. With various features and tactics including replacing “phone menus with visual navigation,” using a smartphone application, and employing post-call surveys, companies can take a hold of this seeming social beast to get the most accurate customer data possible.

Check out more about how to leverage social media in your call center from the rest of the white paper here.

Juliana Kenny graduated from the University of Connecticut with a double degree in English and French. After managing a small company for two years, she joined TMC (News - Alert) as a Web Editor for TMCnet. Juliana currently focuses on the call center and CRM industries, but she also writes about cloud telephony and network gear including softswitches.

Edited by Carrie Schmelkin